User blog:Saslen/Contracts of the Utter North
Forged by the Northern courtier James Auren, these Contracts relate to the suffering of the caster or his target. Abilities * Numb to Suffering: Having accepted the necessity and inevitability of loss, the caster may reduce the effects of such losses on his Clarity. Prerequisites: Mantle (North) 1 or Court Goodwill (North) 2 Cost: 1 Glamour Dice Pool: Stamina + Mantle (North) Action: Instant Catch: Anoint oneself with ashes. Roll Results Dramatic Failure: On the next Clarity roll failure, the changeling automatically acquires a derangement, rather than rolling for it. Failure: Rolls for Clarity loss continue as normal. Success: For the next successes hours, Breaking Point rolls caused by loss (e.g. losing a job, house burning down) gain a +2 bonus. Exceptional Success: Should the Clarity roll fail, the changeling need not roll to resist acquiring a derangement. * Shell of the Black Tortoise: As a tortoise shell limits the damage given to the creature, so too does the shell of Xuan Wu shield his courtiers. Prerequisites: Mantle (North) 2 or Court Goodwill (North) 3 Cost: 2 Glamour Dice Pool: Resolve + Mantle (North) Action: Reflexive Catch: Wearing armor only on the back. Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The next attack against the changeling incurs an additional point of damage. Failure: The caster takes damage as normal. Success: Manifest the armored shell of the Black Tortoise itself. Downgrade the next Wyrd attacks: Aggravated to Lethal or Lethal to Bashing. Exceptional Success: Bashing damage taken may also be halved for those attacks. * Tramontane: The continuous howling winds of the French tramontane has long been said to have a disturbing effect on the psyche. This clause taps into that effect. Prerequisites: Mantle (North) 2 or Court Goodwill (North) 4 Cost: 3 Glamour Dice Pool: Manipulation + Empathy + Mantle (North) – Target Composure + Power Stat Action: Instant Catch: An audible wind is blowing. Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The target's resolve strengthens in the face of the winds. His next action against the caster gains a +1 die bonus. Failure: The clause has no effect. Success: Bring upon a victim the howling winds of the north. Induce a sense of psychological suffering on a victim, causing a dice penalty of '-successes'. Maximum of -5 penalty. Effect lasts one scene. Exceptional Success: The victim also incurs the Shaken condition. * Scars of the North: The caster may force the scars that mark the mien of courtiers of the north to calcify, turning into an armor. Those who bear the contract by way of goodwill rather than Mantle will find said scars growing on them for the duration of the clause's effects. Prerequisites: Mantle (North) 3 or Court Goodwill (North) 4 Cost: 4 Glamour Dice Pool: Stamina + Survival + Mantle (North) Action: Reflexive Catch: Caster removes armor for the duration of the battle. Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The opponent gains a +1 die bonus to his next attack against the caster. Failure: The caster does not gain any armor. Success: For each health box filled, gain 1 Armor rating to either ballistic or general armor for successes turns. Exceptional Success: The armor gained lasts until the end of combat. * Wash the Intestines: Much as Xuanwu purged himself of his sins by washing his intestines in the river, the caster may reverse the effects of lost Clarity. Prerequisites: Mantle (North) 4 Cost: 4 Glamour + 1 Willpower Dice Pool: Wyrd + Composure Action: Instant Catch: Clause is activated while washing in a river. Roll Results Dramatic Failure: Inflict half of one's Wyrd, rounded down, on oneself. This same value is applied as a dice penalty to the next Clarity degeneration roll. Failure: Inflict half of one's Wyrd, rounded down, on oneself. No temporary Clarity is gained. Success: Inflict Wyrd Lethal '''damage to oneself. For each two damage done this way, gain temporary Clarity for '''successes days. Exceptional Success: In addition to the temporary Clarity gained, receive a half-Wyrd (rounded down) dice bonus to Clarity degeneration rolls for the span of the clause's effects. Category:Blog posts